Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democratic donors raised an impressive $100 million through ActBlue, the party’s primary fundraising platform. This figure was recorded over a two-day period, according to a real-time tracker developed by Ryan Murphy of The Marshall Project. While the tally is unofficial as it is based on donations logged since 2004, it sheds light on recent fundraising successes ahead of formal disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributions totaled $66.9 million for the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest single-day fundraising for the 2024 election cycle on ActBlue. The previous top day for donations occurred on September 30, 2020, during the first debate between Biden and Trump, according to Murphy’s tracking.
With the Sunday contributions, ActBlue achieved a milestone, surpassing $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform established in late 2019, has accumulated around $4.3 billion, as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue also noted a surge in first-time donations, with many individuals contributing for the first time in response to Biden’s announcement. Future Forward, a super PAC supporting Biden, reported $150 million in new commitments from major donors shortly after his announcement and subsequent endorsement of Harris. Additionally, Swing Left stated it raised over $160,000 within 24 hours.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in the financial backing for Harris’s campaign, having pledged his support. Wealthy Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also expressed their backing for her candidacy.
Previously, Biden’s fundraising saw spikes after significant events, including a televised debate against Trump where he raised approximately $28 million in a day. After Trump’s 34 felony counts conviction, Biden collected $19.2 million in subsequent days, while Trump and his affiliates pulled in $69 million in the immediate aftermath, causing a brief crash of his campaign website.
From April to June, groups supporting Biden raised about $332.4 million, while those backing Trump gathered approximately $431.2 million, with Biden ending June holding $281 million compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.